Actress Sharon Stone—the star of such classics as Total Recall, Basic Instinct, and Casino—revealed she previously suffered nine miscarriages while attempting to have a child of her own.
Stone's admission came shortly after the Supreme Court published a ruling overturning Roe v. Wade—the 1973 landmark decision that once protected a person's right to choose reproductive healthcare without excessive government restriction.
Stone shared her story in the comments section of an Instagram post by People magazine, which featured a testimonial from Dancing With the Stars veteran Peta Murgatroyd who spoke about suffering a miscarriage while her husband and fellow dancer Maks Chmerkovskiy was in Ukraine.
Stone said people "don't have a forum to discuss the profundity of this loss," saying peoples are often "made to feel it is something to bear alone and secretly with some kind of sense of failure."
She noted people are in need of "compassion and empathy and healing," adding:
"Female health and wellness left to the care of the male ideology has become lax at best, ignorant in fact, and violently oppressive in effort."
You can read her remarks below.
@sharonstone/Instagram
The impact of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the ruling that overturned Roe, sparked concern among members of the medical community, who warn abortion bans will impact the way doctors treat pregnancy complications and pregnancy loss.
For example, a Texas law that went into effect last September that prohibits virtually all abortions after a "heartbeat" is detected has received significant criticism because people have been denied treatment for miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies and severe pregnancy complications.
Stone's words resonated with many of her fans, who shared their criticisms of the ruling as well as their own stories.
\u201ci lost 6, 5 early term, 1 stillbirth. then I was told if the last pregnancy didn't hold, my chances for breast cancer were increasing and my tubes would be tied. he held, praise jesus, and my tubes were tied when I delivered. we don't talk about this enough.\u201d— Southern Mom (@Southern Mom) 1656289137
\u201c9 miscarriages must be truly unbearable. \nMuch courage to Sharon Stone. \ud83d\ude4f\u201d— Frenchie \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7\u2615 \ud83c\udf70 (@Frenchie \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7\u2615 \ud83c\udf70) 1656285033
\u201cIt's a heartbreaking loss. My mom is 84 and still talks about the baby she lost in her very early 20's.\u201d— She's So Mean (@She's So Mean) 1656276597
\u201cSo, there are a lot of women who have suffered miscarriages,including me. I\u2019ve lost count of how many, & recently learned it\u2019s due to autoimmune disease. I can\u2019t imagine if I were FORCED to carry dead babies to term. I already have #PTSD. What the hell is wrong with this country?\u201d— Frieda (@Frieda) 1656273374
\u201cAgreed. I lost two when trying to have my son. I was astonished how many women experience miscarriages. And a D&C following one of these likely saved my life. A D&C would be classified as an abortion even though the fetus was already dead.\u201d— Daina Middleton (@Daina Middleton) 1656272631
\u201cI, in the past, endured 17 miscarriages over the course of 12yrs, & I can truthfully say, each time & collectively, they were the most devastating & emotionally painful thing I'd been thru. I agree with Sharon Stone. \ud83e\udd7a\ud83d\ude22\u201d— \ud835\udd7e\ud835\udd8d\ud835\udd8a\ud835\udd91\ud835\udd91 \ud83c\udf0a~\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffePray for Peace, Justice, & Mercy (@\ud835\udd7e\ud835\udd8d\ud835\udd8a\ud835\udd91\ud835\udd91 \ud83c\udf0a~\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffePray for Peace, Justice, & Mercy) 1656195179
\u201c9 is wild, but most people don\u2019t know how common this is. It\u2019s almost a guarantee that if you know a woman over 18 she has either had a miscarriage or personally knows someone who did. We need to grow up and talk about this so they don\u2019t bare these traumas alone\u201d— Doc Brown \ud83d\udcdc\ud83d\udd2d (@Doc Brown \ud83d\udcdc\ud83d\udd2d) 1656067187
\u201cWell-said, Sharon! As a man I may not know the complex emotional entanglement & turmoil that surrounds a woman losing her pregnancy, but I applaud those who have been openly baring their souls w/ some painful retellings of one's life experiences since the overturn of Roe v. Wade.\u201d— James DeAngelo (@James DeAngelo) 1656271028
\u201cWhen I told a Resident at UCSF Ob/Gyn that I had 8 miscarriages & 4 live births, he blurted "Don't you believe in birth control?" Without a blink I told him, "I'm Catholic." just to shut him up. I'm not Catholic. I have difficulty carrying to term. I only go to female Drs now.\u201d— Proud Rando-SF-CA - auntyalias@gmail.com (@Proud Rando-SF-CA - auntyalias@gmail.com) 1656271558
While miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies and other complications are not uncommon, they can still be deadly.
Stone has previously spoken about her miscarriages, revealing in her memoir they were the result of an autoimmune disease and endometriosis, an often painful disorder in which tissue similar to the tissue that normally lines the inside of the uterus grows outside of it.
These conditions left Stone unable to have biological children.
She and her then-husband, the investigative journalist Phil Bronstein, adopted a child in 2000. Stone adopted two more children after their divorce.